The invention relates to capacitor discharge ignition systems for internal combustion engines.
The invention arose during continuing development efforts relating to ignition systems for marine engines wherein ignition energy is stored in a capacitor and must be quickly discharged across a spark plug to provide enough spark to ignite the combustible mixture in the cylinder. The invention particularly arose during efforts to provide sufficient ignition energy for two spark plugs per cylinder, while still housing the ignition system, particularly the ignition coil or coils, within a reasonable size package as constrained by a marine application, particularly the limited space within the cowl of an outboard engine. The amount of output voltage available must be high enough to fire the spark plug, yet the coil must be packaged within a reasonable size.